It has been a little more than 21 years since an educator named Pat Mitchell burst into my office when I was executive director at the Alabama Conservancy.

With an infectious smile and relentless enthusiasm, she let me in on her big idea: her lifelong vision to help save the environment.

"Auntie Litter! Uncle Sam's wife! I've got a costume! We can teach children not to litter! They can learn to reduce, reuse, recycle! Children can learn to care for the Earth and teach their parents! How do we make this work?"

I did my best that day to match Mitchell's energy. Told her it wouldn't be easy. But there was no stopping her. That day, an environmental superhero was born.

In one short year, Auntie Litter was flying into schools like a modern-day superhero on a mission, teaching and singing in schools throughout Alabama "reduce, reuse, recycle!" On her broad shoulders she organized the state's first Earth Day parade in downtown Birmingham, which has become one of the largest in the nation. She has been honored and recognized by governors, senators and even a president. Today, throughout Alabama, you will find Auntie Litters (she cloned herself) everywhere -- taking to the schools to teach responsibility to one another, the community and love for the Earth. And it all started with her alter ego, Pat Mitchell.

There are many environmental superheroes among us in Alabama. Most of them work undercover like Superman's Clark Kent.

For example, last week, the Green Resource Center for Alabama released its fourth annual Green Progress Report. The yearly compendium tracks and highlights some of the most important, positive environmental developments that occurred in the past 12 months. Since 2008, the report has nearly tripled in size, from six pages to nearly 17. Becoming an environmental superhero must be contagious in Alabama.

One of the highlights in the report is the ongoing response to the 2010 BP oil spill along the Gulf Coast. More than 25 agencies have come together to rebuild oyster reefs and restore marsh and sea grasses. Led by the Alabama Coastal Foundation, Mobile Baykeeper, the Ocean Foundation and the Nature Conservancy, these superheroes began 2011 by bringing together more than 400 volunteers to create a quarter-mile of oyster reef in Helen Wood Park on Mobile Bay.

Environmental superheroes are found in every corner of the state. Architects, builders, engineers, construction workers, schools and business owners are gaining hero status through the state's emerging green building and design movement. According to the U.S. Green Building Council chapter in Alabama, an array of certified "green" buildings rose across the state in 2011. Superheroes were found building a dining hall at the University of South Alabama; residence halls at Birmingham-Southern College; Habitat for Humanity homes in Athens; the headquarters for the Alabama Realtors Association in Montgomery; and even a seafood byproduct facility on Bayou La Batre.

Superheroes are also teaming up in this difficult economic environment to save money, create jobs and protect the environment by implementing comprehensive energy conservation plans. For example, the Dothan school system and Alabamas State Parks will be retrofitting their buildings to become energy efficient, saving tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. The Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is taking it a step further by "greening" its terminal expansion, keeping energy costs flat despite doubling the facility's terminal. And, in Montgomery, the Alabama National Guard's new headquarters is powered by the largest solar project in the state.

Superhero citizens of Lake Martin, through Alabama's Water Watch program, helped the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and then-Gov. Bob Riley create a new "Treasured Lake" designation for the state. Groups in Huntsville proposed Monte Sano Mountain as the first certified "Wildlife Community" in Alabama. The state's Forever Wild program continued its vital work, preserving Alabama's special places for public recreation and hunting, and to protect the state's amazing biological diversity.

And perhaps our most unsung environmental superheroes in 2011: the thousands of Alabamians who pulled together to help one another in response to the April tornadoes. The most devastating natural disaster in our state's history was also one of the most harmful to our environment. Tons upon tons of debris needed to be taken care of in an environmentally responsible manner. More than 204,000 acres of our state's forest land were adversely impacted. Our landscape was forever changed. The people who coordinated the response and continue to work tirelessly on the recovery are true environmental superheroes.

If we learned anything from the 2011 Green Progress Report, it is that most of our environmental superheroes don't wear a costume or throw on a cape. Superheroes plant trees. They change light bulbs to save on energy. They create oyster reefs. They clean up debris. They care for one another and the future of Alabama's environment.